The Mountain House Restaurant in Boone, NC is owned by one Betty Austin, a certified controversial local character. She's always been a very you-can't-get-to-the-right-of-me Republican, turned on really good by weaponry and turned off really bad by gays. She plays Fox News on the restaurant teevee all day long and doesn't suffer fools (or progressives) lightly.
When some thieves stole the flashing reindeer and sled off her restaurant roof one Christmas, Betty let readers of our local paper know in no uncertain terms, "Next year she'll have even more Christmas decorations in place. And somewhere among the holly and the ivy and the bright twinkling lights, she'll be there, heavily armed and waiting."
(Come to think of it, I think I'll join her on that roof. I like lighted reindeers. And lighted sleds. Also.)
The Bristol Speedway racetrack drivers from over in neighboring Tennessee think Betty is the cat's meow. They've have given her a standing ovation:
But if you ever get to Boone, NC you just gotta stop in at the Mountain House Restaurant and see "Hot Momma". Really her name is Betty Austin. She'll abuse you a little bit but she's got some great food. She might even make you get up and refill your own Coke glass!
Betty Austin. Meaner than a snake. And a hardcore, in-your-face Republican. Yet this was the window sign that greeted the
Watauga County Democratic Party's second ever "cash mob" at her restaurant yesterday.
Don't let the orange stop ya.
I wrote a diary back in late July about our local Party's first "cash mob."
As a reminder, or for those of you who missed my first diary:
The general idea is to encourage people to go into small, local businesses and spend their money, en masse, to give the business owner a little bit of economic stimulus.... ...the first gathering called a Cash Mob appears to have been held in Buffalo, NY, on August 5, 2011, and was organized by blogger, Christopher Smith.
Our local Democratic Party decided to own the cash mob movement in our county, and here's what we found out.
People of all ages and stripes like to be a part of cash mobs. Significantly more people attended our second mob, the press and photographers showed up this time, and we threw almost
double the money into two struggling local businesses our second time around.
That's right. While the local Republican Party held its no-more-than-30-of-us hot dog headquarters' grand opening yesterday, and while its local blog got all bogged down about that very opening-- exactly who was a true Republican and exactly who wasn't; and who should/should not be banned from the site; and what on earth the Republicans' image as "a rape party" had to do with the grand opening; and who was attacking another blogger's deceased mother; and who should meet who to settle things in the dark of night...
The Watauga County Democratic Party threw just under $2,000 into the local Appalachian Antique Mall coffers. And the 71 people who showed up at Betty Austin's Mountain House Restaurant spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $700-$800 on fried okra and patty melts.
Here are the promised pictures of our great day, taken by our very own
Photographer Extraordinarie Lonnie Webster.
The Appalachian Antique Mall: There are hundreds of small dealers housed at the mall, and the owner is a strong Democrat. Times are tough for those selling everything from cast iron griddles to substantial oak wardrobes, so we decided to give them a boost.
Here's our Democratic cash mob at the antique mall:
Jerry and Billy Kennedy (who ran against Virginia Foxx in 2010--remember?) took every in every single inch of a great day:
We bought books and chairs and clocks and coffee mugs. Ada and Marjory were drawn to the jewelry:
Madhouse at the checkout line:
Onward to Betty Austin's Mountain House Restaurant for lunch. The Mountain House is (was) a local landmark, but the Republican owner of their previously well-sited building kicked them out because Cracker Barrel would pay more rent. Now, they've got employees wearing sandwich boards and standing on the streets to try to encourage cars into their new location.
The first wave of Democratic `cash mobbers to the rescue arrives:
Iva Dean Winker celebrated her 101st birthday with our cash mob at the restaurant:
Table #1 now seated:
Betty Austin got a good dose of "Democrat" yesterday, and by the sign of things, she liked it. So did we:
Are we Democrats in Watauga County making it happen? You take another look at the welcome sign at Betty Austin's Mountain House Restaurant and tell me. Besides, Fox News took a backseat to The Weather channel on the restaurant's teevee yesterday.
We now have local businesses asking us to visit with them on a Saturday morning, and Party leaders shuffle through suggestions offered up for our next cash mob. I'm thinking bowling.